Beer #170 - W'10, Pitch Black IPA, Widmer Brothers Brewing - Portland, Oregon

The new seasonal release from Widmer is the W'10 Pitch Black IPA. This style combines the hop bitterness typical of most IPA's with the backbone of darker ales. Let's pour!

With black malt and roasted barley, the beer pours a deep brown, nearly opaque with a tight head.

The aroma carries hop fragrance with evident malt tones. Chocolate and biscuit combine with tones of the roasted barley.

The ale begins with hop liveliness, mellowing on the tongue where the malt backbone becomes pronounced. It has a smooth body, almost creamy, as mild dark chocolate and toasted flavors develop. It finishes more aggressively as the hop delivers decent bitterness and freshness that keep the malt tones from dominating the palate.

As the bitterness subsides, citrus is evident in the clean aftertaste.

At 6.5% and with it's dark hue, the beer fits in perfectly with our grey winter. The hop delivers the much needed hope of summer!

Brrr, Widmer Brothers Brewing, Portland Oregon

So again we're hitting the big boys. Not that Widmer is a huge brewery, but I'm sure most of us out there have heard of their famous Hefeweizen. I blogged on their Snowplow earlier, this is their other seasonal - Brrr. It is the opposite of the milk stout, this one promises a hoppy distinction - let's see how it goes...

It pours a cloudy amber with a thin head.

The smell is festive, hoppy and spicy.

The taste is hoppy and tangy at first. There is an initial slight sweetness, but that gives away to hop bitter rather quickly. It has a slight sourness to it as well, which balances the beer back from the sweetness, as well. It sound strange, but I like that aspect. The sweetness plays out through the beer in the background - a little brown sugar or gingerbready at times. It never gets too sweet and the bitterness is held back as well.

It finishes clean with some hop on the back of the tongue, a little bitterness and then back for another sip!

I very much enjoyed the beer - for fans of Winterfish or Celebration, I think you'll enjoy Brrr. It cuts nicely through the cold night to make a great addition to a holiday meal or beer that holds it's own at any winter beer party.

It is 7.2% with 50 IBU's. The malts used are: Pale, Caramel, Munich, Carapils and Dark Chocolate. Hops: Bittering: Alchemy; Aroma: Simcoe and Cascade.

Cheers!